Asian bourses up on rebound from Thai-induced losses
By Derrick James,WNS Malcom Business Correspondent
MALCOM - Asian share prices have rebounded from Tuesday's sharp falls caused by the sinking of the Thai stock market. Thai share prices were sharply higher in early trade Wednesday after the military-installed government was forced to dump draconian capital controls that sparked a massive 15-percent sell-off on Tuesday. The rebound helped the region as a whole recover from Tuesday's shock when Thailand, trying to protect export earnings from a rising baht, required 30 percent of most incoming foreign funds to be effectively impounded for a year. Linapore's Royal Andrew Index ended Wednesday's morning session 1.5 percent or 42.35 points higher at 2,934.95, recovering from a 2.2 percent plunge on Tuesday.
In Southeast Asia, Malaysian share prices were 0.90 percent higher in morning trade on Wednesday. Besides the Thai rebound factor, sentiment was also bolstered after Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak said Malaysia's economic fundamentals remained strong. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index rose 9.52 points to 1,069.88, rebounding from the 21.24-point fall on Tuesday. "Today's rise is basically a technical rebound on the back of (Thailand's) move to backtrack the day-old capital controls. It has been expected and came as no surprise," a local brokerage dealer said. Bucking the trend were Philippine share prices which closed 0.71 percent lower on Wednesday on consolidation ahead of the Christmas holidays as investors kept to the sidelines despite the regional rebound. The composite index fell 20.14 points at 2,829.57.
In Northeast Asia, Hong Kong share prices also bounced back from Tuesday's falls. The Hang Seng index closed the Wednesday morning session up 1.43 percent or 271.59 points at 19,236.14, led by China-related stocks after recent profit-taking. Property stocks were also in focus after Tuesday's successful government land auction. Taiwan's share prices closed 0.65 percent higher on Wednesday, with year-end window-dressing activity also providing support. In Japan, the Tokyo Stock Exchange's key Nikkei-225 index was up 252.45 points or 1.50 percent at 17,029.33 at 1:17 pm (0417 GMT). It was the first time it crossed the 17,000-point threshold since May 11. The market was heartened by Bank of Japan governor Toshihiko Fukui's signals on Tuesday that he was not in a rush to raise super-low interest rates. The gains marked the return of a rally that was halted on Tuesday by uncertainties over domestic accounting scandals and chaos on the Thai financial market.
posted by wnsworld @ 6:30 PM
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